<em>Landman</em> Season 2 Episode 6 Recap

I wonder what Tommy Norris (Billy Bob Thornton) would have to say about this one: I read an article this week in The New York Times about how some oil drilling companies in Texas are converting their know-how into alternative, geothermal power stations. Sounds complicated, I know. But how it works, basically, is that they turn a massive heat pump into a big battery. It might just fix our renewable energy problem. Hell, it might solve everything about the industry that Tommy's so grumpy about in Landman as well.

Overall, it’s a neat idea. Deep underground wells that are connected to the planet’s natural, hot-water reservoirs pull the water up and generate power by spinning massive turbines. Then, the hot water that was brought to the surface is sent back down to keep the process going. It’s better than burning crude oil into a community’s air, accidentally leaking it into the drinking water, and destroying the planet’s environment in general. Still, I'm not certain that the ol’ landman wouldn’t be too keen on it.

In season 1, Tommy gives a whole speech about how we’ve already doomed ourselves to a petroleum-based infrastructure. “Our whole world depends on it,” he says. “And you know what the kicker is? We’re gonna run out of it before we find a replacement.” Well, maybe somebody better teach Taylor Sheridan about geothermal energy so we can get a jump-start on this whole operation. From what I can see of Tommy’s problems in Landman season 2 so far, oil isn’t worth all this. He should sell this fucked-up company and put all that money into something else. Tommy’s not going to do that, though. He’s a landman. It’s all he knows, and he’s damn good at it—for whatever that’s worth.

This episode, it’s the Permian Basin International Oil Show in Fort Worth, Texas. The real event happened just a couple months ago at the end of October, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Landman crew went down to film a bit of the real thing at 2024’s gathering. So, maybe Tommy will learn a little something about how this industry seeks to adapt to the future.

Sadly, it’s not headed in any hopeful direction that feeds the soul. As Tommy’s crew walks around the convention, Sheridan details one company after another that seeks to replace oil workers with AI and robots. That’s just what we need: two things that are trying to kill us working together. “That’s the future,” Theodore (Mustafa Speaks) says. “Without us.”

Later this episode, Tommy and M-Tex also do a terrible thing for the environment just to save the company from going under. He and Cami (Demi Moore) negotiate a deal with Danny Morrell (Andy Garcia) to build an offshore drilling rig. They are being sued thanks to some idiotic deal their president Monty (Jon Hamm) made before his death. So, Tommy sets aside the fact that Danny is the head of the Mexican cartel and he strikes a deal with the devil.

Danny Morrell (Garcia) continues to drive a wedge in between Tommy (Thornton) and Cami (Moore) this episode.

Rebecca Falcone (Kayla Wallace) seems like the only character trying to do things the right way this week. If they’re stuck building an offshore oil rig, then she wants an actual scientist to oversee it. Nathan (Colm Feore) suggests an offshore geologist—which is when I realized that this plot is probably just here so that Rebecca can accidentally run into her one-night-stand from episode 4.

Right on the money—Rebecca knocks on the door and Guy Barnett answers, “Nate said you need a crash course in getting drilled offshore.” Oh boy. The environment is doomed.

Romance is on Cooper’s (Jacob Lofland) mind this week as well. After impressing Ariana’s (Paulina Chavez) father last episode in a record-breaking two-minute interaction, he wins over her late husband’s mother but proving that he’s just a young kid in love. Angela (Ali Larter) agrees to give her son her old wedding ring—since Tommy doesn’t seem like he’s ready to make their marriage official again just yet—and now the day of the Landman wedding feels closer than ever. My money’s on the finale.

Guy Barnet officially joins the series following a guest appearance in episode 4.

Sadly, Hollywood still won’t reward the actors who give it their all in Sheridan’s shows, even if they’re named Sam Elliott. The 81-year-old delivers another award-winning monologue this week when he talks about how Tommy’s mother wasn’t the only one in the family who grieved Tommy’s sister. The landman revealed earlier this season that he had a younger sister who died in infancy, and that it broke his mother. Well, it broke his father too—just in another way. Everyone grieves differently.

“I lost a child, too,” he says. “And she didn’t grow inside me. My body didn’t nourish her. It shattered me, but it didn’t scramble my soul. And you never got to meet the most joyous, loving creature that I’ve ever seen on this planet. You could say I wasted my life, or ruined hers, and maybe I did, but for the hope that maybe she was in there somewhere, son.”

This is Landman at its best. The Texas oil drama’s scenes about offshore rigs and lawsuits (and even T.L. punching a former coworker out at a random rodeo this week) simply pale in comparison to real emotions like these. I love whenever Sheridan dives into honest, gritty details of what this job is like for people on the ground floor. Real hardships, real consequences, and maybe one day—real solutions.

Later in the episode, T.L. has one for Tommy. Not for the fate of the planet, or the company, but for his mind. “Living off of memories ain’t no living at all,” he tells him. “You got to make ‘em while you can.” An intrusive thought kicked in after that one. If Sheridan kills T.L. this season, I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive him.